AGU is a worldwide scientific community that advances, through unselfish cooperation in research, the understanding of Earth and space for the benefit of humanity. AGU is advancing the Earth and space sciences by catalyzing and supporting the efforts of individual scientists within and outside the membership. We are organizing and disseminating information for the scientific community. As a learned society we meet our obligation to serve the public good by fostering quality in the Earth and space sciences and bringing the results of research to the public. These efforts are yielding greater numbers and diversity of well-educated students and young professionals in the Earth and space sciences, and are increasing the public's understanding and appreciation of the value of science and support for it.